Baekhyun gently drummed his fingers on the brown box, his legs folded in front of him. He was meant to be opening the box and organizing his items but Baekhyun’s mind was somewhere else. Eyes focused on the blank white wall, he tried to get the picture of Mi Rae out of his head. Beads of sweat formed on the back of his neck and his heart was still pounding against his chest.

She hadn’t changed, not one bit. If anything, she had just gotten prettier. Baekhyun could still remember the feel of her sun-kissed skin against his fingers and the way her soft brown cascaded down her shoulders. Mi Rae had cut it a bit shorter, he could tell, and it had gotten lighter but still looked as soft. When she was standing in front of him earlier, he was itching to touch it, to have it between his fingers once more.

Before seeing her for the first time after 5 years, Baekhyun’s heart never ached as much as it was aching right now. He realized that after pretending to be nonchalant about the whole matter, he still deeply cared for her. The strings of their heart were still connected and it hurt him so much to see the pain in her eyes caused by him. If only he hadn’t been so stupid in the past, they could’ve happily been together.

There was nothing he could do now. What had happened, had already happened. Still, it was almost impossible to forget. It was almost as if his memories with her haunted him. Mi Rae’s cheerful laughter, the way scrunched her nose, her scent, and just her. He missed her so much it hurt.

Baekhyun ran his fingers through Mi Rae’s long hair, gently untangling the ends. He rested his hand on her forehead and massaged her temples that were strained from the excessive reading she was doing. Her eyes rose from her chemistry textbook and immediately began to twinkle when she saw her boyfriend’s face above her.

They were at Baekhyun’s house, snuggled into his oversized couch and surrounded by fluffy blankets. Baekhyun was flipping through some sports channels while Mi Rae was resting her head on Baekhyun’s thighs and studying for an upcoming test. Sitting silently wasn’t a problem for them. It was neither awkward nor painful, it was comfortable. They never had to do crazy things to enjoy their time together. It had always been that simple.

“Hey, Baek, you know we are literally in the same chemistry class right?” Mi Rae finally spoke up. She lifted her head and flipped over so she was resting on her elbows. Baekhyun looked down at her and struggled to hide his smile.

“So what?” Of course, Baekhyun knew exactly was Mi Rae was trying to tell him but he just had to give her a hard time.

Mi Rae rolled her eyes and responded, “So, you should study too. It won’t hurt you if you try for once.” Baekhyun grinned, knowing that Mi Rae only meant well.

“Yeah, but babe, what’s the fun in that?” He asked cheekily, earning a long groan from Mi Rae. She sat up straight and began to mercilessly hit him with her book.

“I. Hate. You.” Continuing to smack him, she was now on her knees in a full attack mode.

“That thing weighs like 500 kilograms!” Baekhyun whined, trying to save himself. He finally got a hold of her wrists and twisted them backwards, pushing the book out of her hands.

“You will have to face my wrath,” Mi Rae said, trying to sound threatening between her giggles. Baekhyun only tightened his grip and got closer to her, making her breath hitch.

“Oh yeah?” He said with a flirtatious smirk. Mi Rae stared back, her heart pounding as she fell onto her back. Mi Rae couldn’t control herself and threw her head back, her laughs filling up the quiet and empty house.

“You can’t flirt with me, we’ve been dating for two years now.” Mi Rae said, finally calming down.

“Yes-” Baekhyun’s words were cut off with Mi Rae’s knees going straight up into his stomach, a spot that was threateningly close to his groin. Baekhyun’s eyes grew wide and he fell onto Mi Rae with a thud, burying his head in the crook of her neck.

“ you,” he groaned, holding his stomach. Mi Rae burst into laughter again, her whole body vibrating. Soon enough, Baekhyun had forgotten about the pain and was laughing himself. And they laughed for a long time, tangled in each other’s arms on the couch.

Chanyeol had gotten worried after he walked into the room and saw Baekhyun smiling sadly to himself, not moving a muscle. He had a far away look in his eyes and Chanyeol immediately knew that Baekhyun was thinking about Mi Rae. He walked in front of where his friend was sitting and snapped his fingers a couple of times to get his attention. Baekhyun slowly drifted back to reality and only when he looked up could Chanyeol tell that he had been silently crying.

“Baekhyun…” Chanyeol began, not knowing what to say. After being his best friend for years, Chanyeol knew exactly what was going through Baekhyun’s mind by just looking at his face